Just Shelby (2020)

 Brooklyn James not only challenges herself as a storyteller in her newest release, Just Shelby (2020), but she challenges her readers with a writing style that reveals a mysterious plot of whodunnit at the end.  

Just Shelby may not be everyone’s flavor of a read in 2020 while we’re pausing in the quarantine life as it is a slower read told with dual perspectives; however, slow doesn’t equate to poor art; it’s a matter of taste and delight. The hurry-up-and-get-there type may be looking for a whodunnit murder mystery to be upfront in your face with a character reveal like Game of Thrones (2011-2019) with relentless jousting and jolting with no hesitation to kill the main character in Act 1 Scene 1 of an Emmy Award-Winning television series.  


Just Shelby is more like the Emmy Award-Winning television series, Breaking Bad (2008-2013), taking a slower pace to really nail down the details that it might take a reader more than a minute to gain momentum in the storyline, but the surprise ending makes me appreciate the intricacies of the space utilized in character development and plot setting.  


At its core, Just Shelby is a love story of twists and turns and chasing dreams. A guitar in one hand and a boy in the other. Young love lingers yet it aches from the battered bruises. Childhood. I have yet to meet that person who isn’t unhurt from their introduction into existence. Outrunning your childhood without forgiving the very people that placed you on earth in the first place is impossible. Just Shelby proves that forgiveness is essential to living with one another in order to love ourselves so that we can invite room in our hearts to love someone else.  


Brooklyn James’ deft ability to tell a story from dual perspectives while keeping the plot intact is in the same ballpark as Jodi Picoult’s, My Sister’s Keeper (2004) with more plot ambition that satiates a mature pallet. The reader keeps reading because she’s being pushed in a direction of resolve. Then...Bam. The next thing I know is that the wrong sister died, and I’m left teary-eyed in sheer disappointment with a sneering gut reaction screaming NOOOOO as I throw the book across the room. Now that’s a reaction. A product of wonderful storytelling. Just Shelby is that. A product of wonderful storytelling. Stick with the read because the investment is worth the reaction while pausing in quarantine bliss.  

Comments

  1. MarynanaOctober 20, 2020 at 6:45 PM

    Looking forward to this read. I loved her first novel.

    ReplyDelete

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